The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and The Remaking Of Civilization, Goodell - B

                                                      "Sea-level rise is one of the central facts of our time, as real as gravity. It will change our world in ways most of us can only dimly imagine." Sea levels are categorically rising and did by six inches in the last century. Scientists are uncertain of how fast they will rise but are 100% certain that they will. The rise by the end of this century could easily be three feet and 145 million people live three feet or less above current levels. Many scientists feel it could be seven or eight feet. There are two ground zeros for upcoming woes. Greenland, whose glaciers if fully melted could add twenty-two feet to our oceans. All of the ice in Antarctica could add over two hundred feet. Because the Arctic is warming quickly, the issue in Greenland is surface melting. Whereas in Antarctica, it is quite cold still, but the warming oceans are melting the glaciers in the seas from below.
                                                         Cities by oceans are obviously at risk and in particular, Miami, which is woefully unprepared. A seven foot rise would submerge the majority of the city. Because it is a real estate boom/bust locale and tourist mecca with substantial foreign monies flowing in, there are no institutions looking long term. Additionally, the state's tax money is sparse and only comes from real estate taxes, which will only decline when the onslaught begins. The author refers to owning property on the coast as real estate Russian roulette. Another threatened city is Venice. Founded on, surrounded by and protected by water, it is only 2-3 feet above sea level. After fifty years and $6B, the MOSE system of floating barriers is still not operational and is only designed to protect Venice from about a two foot surge above normal levels in the Adriatic. It's hard to find any reason to be optimistic about the city's future. It is not just other coastal cities, like New York, but also the worlds largest air force and naval bases on the US east coast that face being inundated. Indeed the entire east coast from Florida to New York is at risk and the only thing the author can anticipate working is retreat.
                                                           This is a well-written and researched but absolutely frightening book.